The Origins of the Park Cabin Co.'s Handle

Welcome to the Park Cabin Co's blog! We're a little busy building all the actual cabins at the moment, but hope to have a little downtime here and there during blizzards or whatnot to keep the world up to date with what's shaking on the east side of Glacier Park. Sanford in particular loves lecturing on varied topics, so get ready for treatises on hiking, ice fishing, gardening, building, puppydogs, and all manner of historical notes. Let's kick this thing off with a brief elucidation of the story behind our name.

Why the Park Cabin Company? At first brush the name may come off as a little generic. (Editors note, as far as search-terms on the world wide web go, it is not exactly singular.) We were certainly looking for a name that was dissimilar from other local lodging facilities, and also wanted a connection with the history of our particular spot. I am not one to give up on an item just because it has a little age on it, which you will believe without question if you ever venture into our living room, which is located exactly on the spot of the old Blacksmith Shop and Livery of the old -X6 ranch.

An original X brand, unearthed near the site of the original blacksmith shop on the -X6

I will hopefully get the opportunity to inform every faithful reader of this blog of the fascinating history of the -X6 (Bar X Six), but for now we'll stick to it's connection to our current Cabin Co aspirations. The -X6 was a huge horse ranch (possibly the largest in the world), and the headquarters for many years of the Park Saddle Horse Company, the sole horse concessionaire to Glacier Park in the era prior to and contiguous with the introduction of the Going-to-the-Sun Road. The Park Cabin Co's cabins are located near the old corral on the property. Our name is an homage to the halcyon days of early visitation to the area, and to the adventurous souls who braved the rustic accommodations of the day to experience the grandeur of Glacier Park.

The Park Saddle Horse Company's letterhead was designed by non other than eminent Cowboy/Poet/Artist/Montana Legend Charlie Russell, back when the Co was still HQ'd over on the west side of the park near Kalispell. The owner of the company used the very first copy of the letterhead to write a thank-you letter to Russell, opening with ”My Dear Charley: Well here it is and isn't it a winner."

We feel extremely fortunate to have an original Park Saddle Horse Company Lunchbox in our possession. Many, many thanks to Deb and Mike Thronson of Thronson's General Store (and motel and cafe and gas station) for gifting this treasure to our family back in the early 2000s. Sure glad they weren't all burned!

The history of the Bar X Six and the Park Saddle Horse Company is pretty epic in the scope of its influence on Glacier Park and I hope to have many more posts regarding its importance to the local area in the future. For now, I hope you can see why we chose to name our rental cabin business after one of the first concessionaires to Glacier Park, and why we are proud to call the Bar X Six our home.